The Nation Newspaper

Tag: trafficking

  • Human trafficking

    In the last couple of weeks, I have had cause to be attracted to some of the experiences shared by victims of human trafficking. Going through such harrowing encounters that nearly led to the death of the victims, the impression one got is that they will serve as a sufficient deterrent to those who may still be nursing the feeling of embarking on such hazardous trips.

    One of such chilling accounts that should ordinarily frighten even the most uncaring was captured by Citizen Osita Osemene who was deceived into fleeing this country due to frustration and the promise of all the goodies of life that abound in the foreign lands of Europe. In a recent interview in a national daily, Osemene who had been led by his deadly encounter to establish a Non Governmental Organization to fight human trafficking gave a detailed account of the numerous risks associated with such trips.

    He spoke on the harsh economic realities in the country after graduating from the university, the lure of better prospects outside the shores of this country as presented by his guides as some of the issues that made him to embark on such a hazardous trip. But all the prospects painted for him were to become a mirage shortly after. The journey, which was supposed to be by air turned out its direct opposite. He was later ferried to Kano from where a very tortuous journey by road to Niger and Libya was to commence.

    Osemene gave a detailed but scary account of the numerous life-threatening encounters he had on the way; how many of his colleagues were duped, died on the way due to hunger, starvation and dehydration and how they had to drink their own urine to stay alive. It was a tale of man’s inhumanity to man; a verity of the hobbesian state of nature where life had at once become nasty, short and brutish.

    His story also gave an insight into the kind of job women who were part of the trip were into. At a point in the tortuous journey to Libya, the surviving women were sold into prostitution slavery at the price of $3,000 and the y would have to pay their buyers $9,000 to regain their freedom. Of course, the only way to this is through prostitution with all the associated health risks.

    It was an experience that would scare even the most daring. At the end, he took consolation on the fact that he was one of the lucky ones not eaten up by the beasts of the desert as he managed to return home without reaching his promised Eldorado. That was the story of a Nigerian graduate who was lured to flee the country for supposedly greener pastures in Europe.

    With such tales which have become regular features of the print and electronic media, the expectation is that the penchant with which hapless Nigerians are lured into foreign lands by sundry syndicates would have been on the decrease. This is more so given the plethora of sensitization programmes regularly mounted by various agencies of the government to drum home the risks associated with such trips and discourage them. There have also been mounting efforts to make it difficult for the trade to thrive through surveillance leading to the arrest and prosecution of offenders.

    But even with these renewed efforts at stemming the phenomenon, it would appear much progress is yet to be made. Not only are there recurring attempts by sundry syndicates to smuggle young men and women out of this country in search of non-existing greener pastures, it would appear that efforts to discourage Nigerians from such dangerous trips are yet to be fully internalized.

    If anything, the confessions of one of the four women, Cecelia Bankole, saved last week from being trafficked to Libya, illustrates how little such messages have permeated the grassroots. It was a shocking tale of how Cecelia, a 26-year old hairdresser had to dump her two children on her husband for the botched trip despite her (husband’s) disapproval of it.

    Cecelia’s mother’s account of the circumstances leading to her approval of the trip did not help matters. According to her, she had to accompany the four to the point they were arrested because she wanted to know one Ganiat Ajilola who was taking them on the trip. Hear her “I was informed that one big madam whom Ganiat Ajilola was working for in Libya needs hair dressers to help her manage her shop. Upon hearing that people will be going abroad, I volunteered my daughter because she is a hairdresser. I begged her husband but he declined to allow her go on the trip. But I have prayed about it and God said she should go. That is why I am encouraging her”, the prophetess stated.

    This singular case in more ways than one, underscores the difficulties in the current fight against human trafficking. It does not only betray the high level of ignorance that pervade the entire landscape in respect of the dangers associated with such trips, but exposes the vulnerability of the average family to the deceptive but enticing stories of those in the human trafficking ring. Above all, it illustrates most poignantly, the desperation of our people for money at the slightest offer of some opportunity without giving deep thought to what such tales offer.

    Here was a married woman with two kids. All of a sudden, someone came around to float a story that one big madam in Libya needed hairdressers to manage her shop. Her mother who should be more circumspect in handling such stories immediately fell for it to the extent she had to persuade her son in-law to allow her go on the trip. Apparently attracted by the promise that her daughter, an apprentice hairdresser would be managing a shop in far away Libya, the woman threw all decorum to the dogs and was prepared to stake the fate of her two grandchildren for the trip to be.

    This woman who claimed to be a prophetess said she prayed over the matter and God revealed to her that her daughter should embark on the journey. That could as well be. Now the reality of the journey has dawned on her, it might be interesting to know her feelings on the encounter she claimed to have had with God regarding the trip. If God really spoke to her, she would have been told that the journey which she persuaded her daughter to embark on and for which she had to dump her grandchildren was a colossal disaster waiting to happen.

    With the experience shared by Osemene, the fate that awaited Cecelia and her colleagues was quite predictable. They were going to be sold into prostitution slavery if they were lucky to survive the vicissitudes of the desert journey. They should thank their God and the police from saving them from the claws of death. And it should serve as a lesson to all.

    The encounter of the four women is a tip of the iceberg on the human trafficking index in this country. As I write, people elsewhere are perfecting plans to flee the country even when they had been told of the risks associated with such illegal trips. Many would even prefer to be out there under any condition than remain in this country. So it not just a matter of ignorance on the dangers associated with such journeys. The desperation can be located in greed and the debilitating living conditions of a majority of our citizens due largely to poverty and a very high level of unemployment.

    In as much as sensitization programmes are relevant to discourage the likes of Bankole, not much will be achieved if the rising poverty in the land due to unemployment is not checked by the government. We have been told of the quantum of jobs the government intends to create. It must now go beyond promises and put the jobs on the table such that the teeming army of the unemployed will feel the impact.

    Above all, the time has come for our leaders to deploy the enormous resources of this country to develop it such that citizens will have less attraction in fleeing at the slightest offer of elusive job opportunities in foreign lands. That is the issue that has been elevated to the public domain by the persisting incidence of human trafficking on these shores.

  • Cocaine trafficking : NDLEA arraigns four

    Cocaine trafficking : NDLEA arraigns four

    The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Thursday arraigned four men at the Federal High Court in Lagos for allegedly importing cocaine, a banned narcotic drug.

    Among them was Simon Omeluonye, who was caught with 7.785 kilogrammes of cocaine.

    He was arrested last August 22 during inward clearance of a South African Airways flight from Brazil via South Africa at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja.

    Also arraigned were Churchill Okwudili, Arinzechukwu Okpala, and Chukwemeka Nwoye, all for alleged cocaine trafficking.

    Okwudili was arrested last November 14 during inward clearance of Emirates Airlines flight from Brazil at the ‘E’ Arrival Hall of the MMIA.

    He allegedly imported 940 grammes of cocaine without lawful authority. Okwudili pleaded not guilty.

    NDLEA said Nwoye was arrested on October 8 during inward clearance of Qatar Airways flight from Dubai at the ‘E’ Hall of MMIA.

    He pleaded not guilty to importing 1.678 kilogrammes of cocaine.

    Okpala was arrested last November 17 during the inward clearance of Emirates Airlines passengers from Dubai.

    The prosecution said he unlawfully imported 2.720 kilogrammes of cocaine, but the defendant pleaded not guilty.

    The alleged offences, which contravene Section 11 (a) of the NDLEA Act 2004, attract a maximum penalty of life sentence but could be lesser based on the judge’s discretion.

    Justice Saliu Saidu granted the four bail in the following sums: Omeluonye, N20 million; Okpala, N12 million; Okwudili, N5 million; and Nwoye, N5 million, with two sureties each in like sum.

    One of the sureties must be their relative with a landed property in Lagos, the other a must be public servant not below Grade Level 14.

    Justice Saidu said the prosecution and the registrar must be satisfied with the sureties, who, along with the defendants, must deposit their international passports with the court.

    He adjourned till March 7, 9 and 16 for trial.

     

  • NDLEA vows to end trafficking through Seme

    The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Seme Command has vowed to intensify its war against traffickers through the Seme Border.

    Speaking at the Command’s headquarters at Ibereko, Badagry, the Commander, Udotong Essien, said 907.45 kilogrammes of Cannabis Sativa was seized at the border last year, while 22 persons were convicted at Federal High Court Lagos.

    Also recovered were N3,849,650; 2,307,000million CFA; $50,391.00, one Mercedes Benz V-boot saloon car, three Honda Motorcycles and one Yamaha Engine boat. Five drug dependent persons were counseled on the dangers of drug abuse and trafficking, he said.

    “We made more arrests of persons with Cannabis Sativa (Indian Hemp) otherwise referred to as Skunk in Ghana, where all seized Indian Hemp came from. This Ghana specie is said to be superior to the ones grown locally here.

    “We made 31 arrests which includes a Ghanian lady identified as Juliet Adjei, caught with 35.5 kilogrammes of Cannabis Sativa; Samuel Alabi who hails from Ogun State with two kilogrammes; Mohammed Ibrahim from Kebbi, with seven kilogrammes; Ismailla Aliyu and Edwin Igbokwe arrested with 781.5 kilogrammes, N480,000, four motorcycles, one Yamaha boat engine, among others,” he said.

    Essien advised parents whose wards are schooling in Benin Republic to monitor their activities. He said a student was arrested with large quantities of Indian Hemp.

    He debunked claims that his officers employ black magic to detect drug peddlers. “Before you become an NDLEA officer, you must be properly trained. This training centres on what we call risk assessments and profiling. When you see someone that has something to hide, mere eye contact tells you if he is a suspect.

    “We apply intelligence-led policing to nab them. We do a lot of profiling, like where one is coming from and heading to.  We exchange information on suspects with the traditional rulers, the police, the Customs, etc.,” he said.

    Essien said officers were trained locally and abroad last year, adding that they need more gadgets, operational vehicles, among others, for optimal performance.

  • Man in court over alleged heroin trafficking

    Man in court over alleged heroin trafficking

    A 35-year-old man, Aniecheta Okoli, on Tuesday appeared before a Federal High Court in Lagos, charged with heroin trafficking.

    The accused is facing a one-count charge preferred against him by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

    The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge, and his counsel, Mrs Lilian Omotunde, requested that he be granted bail.

    Justice Saliu Saidu, the trial Judge, in response, granted the accused bail in the sum of N10 million with two sureties in like sum.

    The judge ordered that one of the sureties must be a blood relation of the accused.

    He adjourned the case till Feb. 25, 2016, for substantive trial.

    The prosecutor, Mr Fingere Dinneys had told the court that the accused committed the offence on Oct. 5

    He said that the accused was arrested at the arrival hall of Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja.

    The prosecutor said that a large wrap of heroin, weighing 45 grammes, was recovered from the accused during the screening of passengers.

    He said that Okoli was consequently arrested and handed over to the NDLEA for prosecution.

    The prosecutor said that the offence contravened Section 11 (b) of the NDLEA Act, Cap N30, Laws of the Federation, 2004.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the offence of drug trafficking can attract as much as life imprisonment.

  • Two held for alleged Indian hemp trafficking

    Two held for alleged Indian hemp trafficking

    Two men, Ismaila Aliu, 28, and Edwin Igwe, 39, have been arrested at  Seme Border for alleged trafficking of 20 bags of substance suspected to be Indian hemp.

    Parading the suspects yesterday, the Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) in charge of Zone II, Lagos, AIG Bala Hassan said they were arrested following a tip-off.

    Hassan said the substance would be handed over to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA). He promised to arrest others at large.

    Aliu, who works at Seme border, said his work is to bring in contraband.

    He said: “I bring in many things including rice, groundnut oil, turkey meat and sausage rolls. I was not around when the last incident happened. There are small boys who work with me. My role is to bring in anything their goods for a fee.

    “That fateful day, they called me to come and carry goods. When I came I saw them with police and I asked what the matter is? They told me that what they carried attracted the police. I looked at the goods they were talking about and they looked like Bibles and others looked like video tapes (CDs). I tried to call the person who bought the load and told him that there was a problem and that he should bring money for the problem to be solved. I told him to bring N500, 000 but he brought only N480, 000. I also called the owner of the goods through my senior brother and he promised to make the owner come quick. The owner is an Igbo man. My work is to bring in contraband and they pay me there. I am not a criminal. I don’t steal rather.”

    Igwe said he loads goods into vehicles for a fee.

    He said: “I am based at the border between Togo and Ghana. We work for so many people, we are like agbero people and agbero people have no choice in the type of work they do so far it will fetch them small money for food and drinks.

    “It was one Jennifer who owns the goods that asked me to give Aliu N480, 000. I was in Lagos when Aliu’s brother called me. He told me Aliu was arrested with Jennifer’s goods. Jennifer gave me the money to go and give Aliu to perfect the releases of the Indian hemp. Jennifer is a foreigner, a Ghanaian. She gave me the money to give Aliu and I was later arrested.

    “I don’t know anything about the other goods from across the waters. I don’t know how to swim hence I will not be able to steal or smuggle anything through the waters. I am a mere loader. At times, I am paid N3,000 for loading contraband. I am innocent because I know that what they are doing is illegal but what I am doing is just to find food and transport money. Now that I know that it is an offence, I will not load contraband again it is just that there is no job.”

     

  • Woman, daughter arrested for alleged child trafficking

    The intelligence department of Abia State Police Command has arrested a mother and her 19-year-old daughter for suspected child trafficking.

    The police said both women allegedly sold a baby newly delivered by the younger one.

    A statement signed by the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) Ezekiel Onyeke said, “The arrest of the duo was as a result of intelligence report received by operatives of the department.”

    Onyeke said that the mother whose child was sold was given N10,000 to take care of her immediate needs while part of the money was used to pay for her apprenticeship where she was learning a trade.

    The police said that one Martha Ajuzieogu who operates an illegal maternity home in her residence conspired with a certain welfare officer named Ngozi and one Amarachi, both at large, and others shortly after the delivery to sell the baby.

    Also, the police have foiled a possible clash between rival cult groups Vikings and Ayez at Abia State Polytechnic, Aba.

    Four suspected cultists were arrested while a locally-made pistol from one of the suspects.

    Onyeke said, “Upon information received by the intelligence unit of the police in Aba, Abia State that Vikings and Ayez secret cults were warming up for a clash on 30th September 2015, our men moved in…with the school security outfit.”

    The four suspects were said to have made useful statements to the police.

     

  • Human Trafficking: My life as a victim

    Human Trafficking: My life as a victim

    Burdened by the many cases of Nigerians trafficked overseas, Bukola Oriola, a former victim, is back home on sensitisation campaign, reports Sunday Oguntola 

    THE tears are still flowing. They came in torrents just less than five minutes into the chat. “I found myself in a situation where I don’t even trust my family members any longer,” she broke down.

    “I may trust a friend this moment but the next I don’t trust him or her anymore. So, this is a part that strikes a chord in me that could strike anytime.”

    Ten years after, the psychological and mental scars of her ordeals remain indelible. She’s healing but the traces of the battered psyche are still fresh.

    “The thing is the wound is inside and it is hard to heal,” she sobbed.  “I’m tearing up not because I’m sad but because it’s always an open wound that is there. You heal through the process but it’s not a healing that happens once,” she explained last week.

    Down the memory lane of miseries

    In September 2005, Bukola Oriola, an award-winning journalist with the defunt New Age newspapers, went to the United States of America on “I Class” visa to cover the 60th anniversary and General Assembly of the United Nations.

    As it turned out, she ended up staying put after Tade, who she was engaged to, persuaded her to raise a family with him. The duo had completed traditional wedding rites in October 2004.

    That was how she was baptised into the world of human trafficking and forced labour. Tade, her hitherto amiable spouse, turned against her. He practically subjected her to psychological and mental torture. In what was supposed to be her matrimonial home, Bukola literally became an imprisoned slave.

    Tade not only abused her but also neglected their only child, Samuel. With the support of his friends and relations overseas, he stripped her of all dignity as a wife and human being through constant tearing down. For two years, Bukola couldn’t step outside their apartment; she could only peep through the windows. Her supposed home had become a detention camp.

    Tade threatened her with the law and police, forcing Bukola to suffer in silence. On several occasions, she was at the verge of suicide. She was so convinced that dying would be more honourable than the maltreatment her supposed husband was dishing to her but in a foreign land.

    “I suffered isolation for two years. I could not go wherever or whenever I wanted. I was at the mercy of my husband, who took me whenever he felt it was necessary, or, on his own condition, and sometimes, for sex. I suffered through pregnancy.

    “I could not eat wherever I craved. And, sometimes, I was at home in pain with little or no help. He pretended to care for when others were around. When I worked, he took most of my money, leaving me with virtually nothing to survive on.

    “It was a situation of a slave at the beck and call of her master. It could be described as the Israelites in the hands of Pharaohs and the Egyptians,” Bukola wrote in her book titled Imprisoned: The travails of a trafficked victim.

    Left with no dignity, self-worth or anyone, Bukola could only turn to God. The law couldn’t help her. Two law firms actually turned down her brief. It was by sheer providence that she managed to escape to a shelter for battered women from where she was granted legal stay in America.

    Life as an advocate

    Her ordeals in the valleys of the shadow of death have since become a reference point with many speaking engagements across America. Bukola has met with diverse groups and organisations to speak on the challenges and dangers of human trafficking.

    On TV, her show, Imprisoned, has become a household name in the human rights community with very interesting episodes on diverse issues surrounding human trafficking. Through her organisation, many victims have been receiving help, rising from the rock bottom back to the position of prominence.

    From a victim, Bukola has become a survivor and then an advocate. This, she said, makes her fulfilled and glad. “I’m grateful to God that I have moved from a victim to a survivor and then a helper. I relate with the story of Joseph, who was sold into slavery by his siblings.

    “I can look back and use my story to help others. I feel happy when I put my hands into someone who was where I was and is now happy. It takes time but people are being helped. It gives me joy that I can use an experience that almost took my life to help others now,” she stated.

    Like the Biblical Joseph, Bukola believes she was saved to help others undergoing harrowing cases of deprivation and subjugation from familiar foes. Had she not gone through the pain, she reckons her current role as an advocate wouldn’t have arisen.

    When she spoke up, Bukola was described in glowing terms in Nigeria and America. Minnesota Women’s Press even gave her award as Change maker in 2009 for her courage. Many stated she was courageous and resilient to have spoken up against her abusive husband. But Bukola will be the last person to take such credits.

    “I wouldn’t say I’m courageous,” she began.  “It was just God that I had. My child was just 11 months old. I told God that if I get help, I’d take the shame by putting my face on the case. That was what helped me to come out. It had nothing to do with courage but the grace of God.”

    Back home with a message

    Since she left in 2005, Bukola had never been back home. But last Monday, she exchanged pleasantries with some of her old journalism colleagues at the Lagos headquarters of Vintage Press Limited, Publishers of The Nation newspapers.

    She said she decided to return home after ten years because she has a strong message for Nigerians planning to relocate overseas. Having gone through the path of pain in the process of relocation, Bukola is determined to prevent as many Nigerians as possible from experiencing the same. Travelling, she said, remains the best form of informal education. “I encourage people to travel because it is educative. It broadens your worldviews and exposes one to different global cultures,” she stated.

    But most Nigerians, she pointed out, travel overseas with too many assumptions. They believe the pasture is greener over there and expect to make it big once overseas without realising things are not as they seem. Many of them, she lamented, become victims of trafficking, forced labour and sexual harassment.

    Expatiating, she said everyone has a level of vulnerability that abusers or traffickers could exploit. “It can happen to anybody, not just illiterates or anything. I was educated, even a journalist when it happened to me.

    “The fact that you have a two-year visa does not mean you will get a job. Who is going to give you a job? Even those who won the green ticket can hardly get jobs.

    “People who send their children to schools and think they have relations they can stay with have to be careful. If you have a student’s visa and do not get enrolled at a certain period, you will lose your status.

    “Many students who left to go to schools are in some houses as maids. Staying for free with someone can turn you to a slave because the person can claim you owe him or her.”

    While at home, Bukola will be addressing students of selected tertiary institutions on the dangers of trafficking and how to avoid becoming a victim. Her ultimate goal is to form a coalition of International Association of Students against Abuse and Slavery.

    For spouses going overseas, Bukola advocates counselling sessions to understudy their new environment, culture and status with a view to avoiding damaging marital misunderstanding. A new environment, she explained, changes people in unexpected ways, throwing up challenges for relocating couples.

    So, what are the tell-tales for would-be trafficking victims? One, she said perpetrators always begin by isolating their selected victims.  “When the person is not letting you interact with people, it is a red flag. When your spouse or partner is isolating you then that is a red flag.”

    From isolation, the abusers always move to psychological tearing down. In her case, Tade constantly spoke her down before people. One day while with guests, he commented that he dislikes Nigerian journalists because they were dummies. “That was meant to bring me down.”

    She continued: “If he is supposed to conclude your documentation and he keeps postponing, that is a red flag. If you go on finance’s visa, you have 90 days to get married.

    “If you don’t, you lose your status and you cannot marry another person until you return home and come back. If you are with someone who cares about you, there shouldn’t be problems about that.

    “If you have a child overseas, always call to check up on them because they could be with someone as maids. Their uncles could have turned them to be baby-sitters.

    “Some grandmothers could also be labour slaves. They are isolated and could not go anywhere. There are so many people kept in some houses. Those abroad need to be calling home too to tell people what they are going through.”

    Video:

    https://goo.gl/F8Yj20

     

  • Trafficking in persons an insult to human dignity, says Kerry

    Trafficking in persons an insult to human dignity, says Kerry

    In presenting the Trafficking in Persons Report 2015, Secretary of State John Kerry described the act of trafficking of fellow human beings as an insult. Excerpts:

    Trafficking in persons is an insult to human dignity and an assault on freedom. Whether we are talking about the sale of women and children by terrorists in the Middle East, the sex trafficking of girls lured from their homes in Central Europe, the exploitation of farm workers in North America, or the enslavement of fishermen in Southeast Asia, the victims of this crime each have a name. And they each have been robbed of their most basic human rights.

    The fight against modern slavery matters deeply to me. When I was a prosecutor outside of Boston in the 1970s, I worked to put people behind bars for rape and sexual assault. We were one of the very first jurisdictions in America to set up a witness protection program so that people weren’t twice victimized—once by the crime and once for daring to tell the truth.

    My time as a prosecutor brought home to me the simple lesson that justice is not simply a matter of having the right laws on the books; we have to back those words with resources, strategies, and actions that produce the right results. As Secretary of State, I am proud that the United States is using the tools at our disposal to deter, expose, apprehend, and prosecute those who seek to profit by trafficking in their fellow human beings.

    Modern slavery doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It’s connected to a host of 21st century challenges, including the persistence of extreme poverty, discrimination against women and minorities, corruption and other failures of governance, the abuse of social media, and the power and reach of transnational organized crime. That is why the United States is working with our international partners at every level to attack the root causes of trafficking, warn potential victims, put perpetrators behind bars, and empower survivors as they rebuild their lives.

    One thing is clear: No nation can end modern slavery alone. Eliminating this global scourge requires a global solution. It also cannot be solved by governments alone. The private sector, academic institutions, civil society, the legal community, and consumers can all help to address the factors that allow human trafficking to flourish. But governments have a special responsibility to enforce the rule of law, share information, invest in judicial resources, and espouse policies that urge respect for the rights and dignity of every human being. Human trafficking is not a problem to be managed; it is a crime to be stopped.

    This year’s Report places a special emphasis on human trafficking in the global marketplace. It highlights the hidden risks that workers may encounter when seeking employment and the steps that governments and businesses can take to prevent trafficking, including a demand for transparency in global supply chains.

    The bottom line is that this is no time for complacency. Right now, across the globe, victims of human trafficking are daring to imagine the possibility of escape, the chance for a life without fear, and the opportunity to earn a living wage. I echo the words of President Obama and say to them: We hear you, and we will do all we can to make that dream come true. In recent decades, we have learned a great deal about how to break up human trafficking networks and help victims recover in safety and dignity. In years to come, we will apply those lessons relentlessly, and we will not rest until modern slavery is ended.

     

  • My travails for three and a half years over child trafficking allegation —Bisket

    My travails for three and a half years over child trafficking allegation —Bisket

    Bisi Dan Musa, a.k.a. Bisket, bestrode the social scene like a colossus in the 80s, 90s and early 2000. Now 66, her life is one that movie makers can make a fortune from. As a fabric merchant, she was already comfortable enough to build her own house at 24. And by the time she clocked 30, she was already a mother of eight children. Tall, graceful and endowed with benevolent disposition, it is no surprise that celebrities were always flocking around her. As a matter of fact, her business office, called Bisket Store, on Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos, was always a beehive of activities. It was the first to run a 24-hour schedule. She later became a born-again Christian and before any of her top society friends knew it, she had become seriously involved in ministry work. She founded a church and intensified her work in humanitarian services, picking up orphans and destitute and rehabilitating them. It was a success story that turned into a nightmare when she was arrested for alleged child trafficking in 2001. It was one incident that shook her life to its very foundation and forced her into a quiet life when she got over the storm that lasted for three and a half years. She went down memory lane as she discussed these and more with PAUL UKPABIO

    IT is not unusual to hear that you are in Jerusalem, Rome or some other holy cities on pilgrimage. How does one reconcile this with the fact that you were once accused of child trafficking?

    I believe that in the journey of life, God will always take you through different phases. The Bible tells us that there was a time in Joseph’s life that God gave him a vision, the vision backfired and he went solo like I did. But that did not deny God’s promises upon his life and the vision was made manifest. When God wanted him to go solo, he went solo. When God wanted him as a slave, he became one. When God wanted him in prison, he was in prison. But the promise of God upon him, he never missed. And those channels of suffering became the channels through which God elevated him.

    A vision is like a divine promise. Before something can materialise in your life, you and God must share a vision together. He will first give you a vision; not necessarily in a dream. It may be an idea in your heart. It may be something that you visualise that is coming to you and you are excited about it.

    You went into fabric business early in life and made great fortune from it. How did you get involved with the poor and the destitute?

    I did not go into fabric business, I was born into it. I am always a dreamer. I diversified into supermarket line and I happened to be the first to run a 24-hour supermarket in Nigeria. Up till now, nobody has achieved that feat. I did the business when Nigeria was tensed up during the military era. There were guns everywhere and I did a 24-hour supermarket business because God gave me the inspiration to do it. And anything I have an inspiration to do, I go for it and I achieve it.

    God also gave me an inspiration to serve him. Up till now, people cannot understand the calling. Not even my family members, my children, my husband, my late mother and other people who are close to me. None of them could understand why somebody at the highest level of her career would suddenly divert into taking care of the ordinary people on the streets. They believe that most people who divert into such callings do so out of frustration or career breakdown. But I was still in limelight and at my prime, because at the time I answered the call, I was still in my 30s.

    I did so many things very fast in life. Even my tenants thought that my building belonged to my mother. I had been delivered of eight children before I reached 30. Some preferred to believe the rumour that I had no children. In between all that, I was still working, travelling overseas and importing goods in containers. I was fine and I already had five branches of the supermarket. At 20, I was doing all that. I was never a wayward woman. No man in Nigeria can stand up today and say he invested in me. No man can say he has gone out with me, and no governor or minister can say he helped me or gave me a contract. I have never gone out for such largesse in my life. It was my sweat and the benevolence of my husband.

    As a wealthy woman, what is your take on success and wealth?

    My children are in their late 30s and above now. They tell me that I am a genius. They compare me to Bill Gates. They and others who know me would tell you that money is not my priority. If I were to value money, I would be one of the richest women in Nigeria today. I see many opportunities I can make money from, but I don’t go for it. Rather, I give out to people. Many whose lives I have touched are living witnesses to my generosity. I am rather careless with money. I give out more money than I make. That is why I say I don’t value money the way other people see it as a matter of life and death. Some people are so eager to achieve and do not care if they hurt anybody in their shrewd desire to make money. People hurt me. Even those that I have helped hurt me, but I just look at them and laugh. They don’t even know how to say thank you.

    Money is nothing in this world. It is only those who God has given the vision that understand the power of the source. They are the ones who know the value of life and also know that money is not everything. Money is good. I pray for it every day. I pray for my generation not to taste poverty. But one thing I used to tell my kids any time they feel bad and say, “Ah, Mummy, you are nice to a fault,’ is that life and power are transient. Everything that has a beginning also has an end. Nothing is too big to gain and nothing is too big to lose.

    I was in the office of an influential government official who is close to retirement. He was telling me that all he needed in his life was N3 million so that he could retire to his farm. I looked at him and I felt like weeping, because I know what that means. Some months ago, I gave someone a property worth N8 million free of charge. My children were angry, but I pacified them that God has favoured us and we have never lacked. I told my children that the ones they needed, I had already given them.

    Tell us about your background

    I was born into affluence. My dad and mum were very rich. My father, Chief Zacheaus Adekoya Okeowo, brought power to Ijebu-Ode. He owned the first petrol station in Ijebu Ode, and at a time, he was one of the finest politicians in the progressive politics of that era. And my mother, Chief (Mrs.) Christiana Alaba Okeowo, was one of the pioneers of the fabric business in Nigeria. She started in Lagos and went up to have her own factory. She didn’t stop employing foreigners to work in her factory. So I grew up with silver spoon. I have never tasted poverty in my life. I don’t even know what they call poverty. My parents bought me my first car at the age of 16. So, I have never tasted poverty. Maybe that is why money is not a big deal to me. When I see people running after money like life and death and they are ready to hurt anybody because of money, I feel sorry for them. Even when they accused me of stealing children, I just laughed. The question I first asked is how much would I sell them? As an individual I built my first house at the age of 24. I know how much I get from rent alone. Up till now, I live on rent because I decided not to work again. I retired at the age of 40.

    What has life has taught you?

    There are some positions God put us in, though they make us unhappy or uncomfortable, they are part of the packages that will locate our destiny. I always tell my kids that I know I may have hurt you, you may not be happy with me as your mother, maybe I wasted opportunities in which you would have been swimming in money, but it could also be that I am preparing your future. You will enjoy it. I tell them to trust me that my seven generations will reap the fruits of what I am sowing. I may not reap it, but I pray that God will give my children the grace to reap it. That’s because He works according to His grace.

    If Jesus can die at the age of 33, who am I to query God for my own cross? Jesus’ short time on earth did not deprive Him of God’s promise upon his life. Today, He is worshipped and adored globally. Before Adolph Hitler died, he confessed that Jesus was the greatest and most popular entity in the world. Even Times magazine at a time adjudged Him the Greatest Personality of the Century. Even Muslims appreciate Him. They say He is not the son of God, but they still accept him as a prophet of God. I just came back from Jerusalem and I visited where Jesus was buried. It is Muslims that are watching over the place. And it is a mosque that is beside Jesus Christ’s burial ground. They said the land is owned by Muslims and the Muslims were very careful; they were watching us. They didn’t want us to damage the place or do anything evil to it. So, they hurry you out so that you don’t overstay your visit. They say they open the place in the morning and close it in the evening. They are very watchful of the place, so that nobody will come and bomb it or do any evil to it.

    So, if God can glorify Christ up to that level and Christ promised us as His followers that ‘when you take my step, I will never owe you,’ I say that God will not owe me. It may take time for people to realise who this woman is, but God will never owe me.

    Do you regret helping abandoned children and destitute after you were accused of child trafficking?

    Thank God, one of the children they said I stole is in The Bells University today. We spend over a million naira on him in a year, but the papers are not reporting that, I don’t care. All I care about is what God asked me to do. That child (points to a sleeping baby) is a child to one of the children they said I stole. I am taking care of the mother and I am taking care of the child. Nobody is seeing that. They accused Jesus more than that. People fight what they don’t understand. My children too don’t understand, but I know with time, they will understand that I have a purpose on earth. I have a vision that I am pursuing. Nobody is seeing that vision, but I don’t care. It is not about money. God has given me a time to enjoy. I have enjoyed money. I have entered presidential jets many times. I have been to places in England where it was white people that opened the gates for me and white executives chauffeured me. So, God has given me my good times.

    Even now, I am still having my good time because at my age, I have no sickness: no diabetes, no high blood pressure, no headache, nothing. People see me and they cannot believe my age. Some people even see me and they say it to my face that all your friends are old, why are you looking young like this? It is the grace of God. Because what I have gone through, they have not gone through it. They have stayed in the limelight. They have enjoyed their lives. They are mixing with their likes while I have been mixing with the low class for the pass 20 years. I still enjoy being around them and I am not complaining. I don’t want to be in the limelight. But I do tell my children if you want the limelight, go for it.

    As a popular society figure then, a lot of people must have swam around you…

    From youth, I was happily married and started rearing children. I have never lacked anything. So, nothing prepared me for such a huge challenge. I was giving birth to children every year. Some people even said to me, pretty women like you don’t normally have kids, how come you are having children every year? God has been too kind to me. So, when the other side came, it was like a big blow. It knocked me on the floor that I couldn’t even pray. There was a time I was no longer praying. Since I gave my life to God, I have never done anything fetish and I will not do it until the day I die. But in that period of tribulation, I was just blank.

    It was not even the incident per se, but the way people disappointed me. It was something I never thought could happen. The first day they took me to court, I was thinking that I would see thousands of people waiting there to fight my cause and say, ‘No, Bisket is not like that!’ But I got there and saw only those who wanted to persecute me. The mob was shouting. They were carrying stones. I looked into the heavens and said God, I am not Jesus Christ. Jesus is your son, you both died together in heaven, but I am a child of faith. This woman is about to break to pieces. I was praying to God in my heart.

    That is why my husband, Dan Musa, no matter who they say he is, I can never leave him. My marriage to him may not be a bed of roses. People said I should leave him, but I will never because during my trying moments, he was there for me. God used him. He stood as a man to the last minute, and for that, I can never abandon him. He is with me and we will be together for life. That is my destiny. But the whole episode made me to see life from a different perspective and that really weakened me for a couple of years.

    So, how was the issue resolved?

    I pursued the case for three and a half years before I was discharged and acquitted. They could not prove any case against me because God knows that I don’t have any case, and I proved myself in the court of law. No policeman or law enforcement person can say that I bribed him with one naira, and the heavens witnessed that. I intentionally did it so that I can still trust God. If I had bought my way out, I might not trust God again. I wanted to see whether the righteous would be punished, because according to His word, the child of the righteous will never be a victim of misfortune. I wanted to establish that biblical fact.

    When I first came, the Magistrate was very hostile. But when I proved my case that I take the children with me to England, I take them on holidays, and how much will I sell them in Nigeria? Even if they say they are selling children every day in Nigeria for N500,000, the money I spent on their return ticket to London for holidays alone is more than that. So, any magistrate who knows her onions can see the proof, with their passports. The hospital they were attending was Eko Hospital. They were not going to General Hospital. And I told the magistrate to go there and check the records. There was another hospital we used on Norman Williams Street, Ikoyi. I said go and check. So, how much will I sell them? The magistrate became sympathetic. I read it in her. But she was hostile when the case started. They even begged her to give me a seat in the dock. But when she saw the reality of the case, she changed.

    Chief Rhodes insisted that I should go into trial, because they wanted to set the case aside. I have forgotten the term they used in law, but Chief Rhodes said if what I had told him was true, I had no case. He said I should not go for the easy way out because my enemies might bring the case back in 10 years’ time. He said, ‘Let them put you in the dock. If you have passed through this and you have not collapsed up till now, you can’t collapse again.’

    So, I went into the dock. By the time we finished the case, people were on my side. When I am testifying, people shed tears. By the time I was discharged and acquitted, the whole court was jubilating. People were clapping. If they didn’t believe in the discretion of the magistrate, they would have hissed or protested. But when they counted charge one, discharge and acquitted; charge two, discharge and acquitted up to charge 21, the whole court started clapping.

    People said you cried on TV

    That was because the children were not allowed to follow me. I couldn’t clap, so I was crying. That is why people who saw the television footage thought I didn’t win the case. They saw me crying on TV and thought I had been sent to jail. And you know after that case, I went into my shell. So, everybody thought I went into jail. They never knew that I was discharged and acquitted. But my joy was not completed because I said I am going home but these children are going into detention with no care and love. As a mother, what is my joy?

    It was three and a half years later, through the favour of God under Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, Barrister Opeyemi Bamidele, who was the Commissioner for Sport and Youth Development, assisted and the children were returned to me. May God continue to favour these two people. One of the children is at The Bells University. Others are in other higher institutions.

    We hear that you have a new passion caring for animals…

    That is funny, because I never grew up in the village. I grew up in the city. But I have the tendency to love not just animals but anything that has life. I don’t play with life. I don’t also believe that it is my doing. It is God that creates human beings and He will just create you the way He wants you to be. I always explain this to my kids that the fault you see in me is exactly how God created me. There was a time my daughter’s friend came from England into my house. She saw me spoon-feeding a kitten. She looked and went to tell my daughter that ‘your mother has a problem o. She is now spoon-feeding animals.’ I appreciate anything that has life. That is how God created me and that is who I am.

    And your beauty has stayed over the years. How do you do it?

    There is no secret to it. I relax. I don’t worship money. If one has stroke, that means wheel chair. You can’t enjoy that money again. God didn’t allow me to beg my enemies for food. That means I am a rich woman in the Lord. So, I always thank God.

    And how is life in retirement?

    My husband lives in Kwara State, and where a man stays is where his wife takes as her home. But I am somebody who cannot just stay permanently in Kwara because of my kids. They are in the stage where they need me most. So, I need to be around them even though they may be older. They are actually in their 40s, and late 30s, but a child, no matter how old, still needs the native wisdom of the mother. Moreover, many of them are just re-settling in Nigeria. They are just returning home from the UK and the US, and they don’t know much about Nigerian way of doing things. So, I make sure I shuttle between them and my husband.

    And thank God, I have a reasonable husband who is very accommodating and caring. I live in his house here in Lagos. Dan Musa gave me a whole house I live in here in Lagos. So, I shuttle between Kwara and Lagos. I live on rent. My husband has a rice plantation with a factory in Ilorin. It is such a huge agricultural investment. He produces all brands of rice. I also have a store in Ilorin because my family is into buying and selling.

    What advice do you have for young couples?

    I believe that no woman should break up her marriage, because I believe from experience that there is no perfect human being. Anybody God has given you, just take him as your destiny. Even when you change, you will not find perfection in your new partner. So why change? And the changes always affect the children. Like I always advise my kids, the love story you see on television is different from reality. Don’t believe it. Don’t even expect it! Marriage is a reality show, and reality means no perfection.

  • Pressing against trafficking

    Pressing against trafficking

    To address trafficking in persons (TIP), the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Person and other Related Matters (NATIP) brainstormed with journalists from across the country in Makurdi, the Benue State capital. Evelyn Osagie reports.

    Trafficking in persons (TIP) has been described as “a brutish and uncivilised crime that should not happen” by advocates at a media roundtable in Benue State capital, Makurdi.

    Hundreds of years after the abolition of slavery, the menace has metamorphosed into diverse forms with TIP being the most threatening of all, it was said.

    According to advocates, TIP has since become an under-the-radar crime that is constantly plaguing the world. Millions of people are still being trafficked yearly and since has become the second most lucrative market across the world, according to the co-founder of PRAJWALA, an Indian-based foundation involved in rescuing and sheltering victims of trafficking, Dr Sunitha Krishnan.

    Nigeria is not immune to the menace. In fact, Nigeria is rated as being a recruitment, transit and destination country, it was learnt. Hence, Dr Krishnan, along with other advocates, therefore, called for collective efforts in curbing the crime.

    They made the call at a Media Roundtable TIP and the Smuggling of Migrants (SOM), which was organised by the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Person and other Related Matters (NATIP). The two-day event was funded by the European Union (EU).

    According to UNODC, since the traffickers belong to a large ring across the globe, it would require a collective network of involving government, civil societies, the community at large and the media to curb the trend. As part of the moves to combat the scourge, it is constantly identifying and joining forces with groups that bear the same mandate, while campaigning against it. The media roundtable is one.

    It drew attention on the negative impact of twin-headed menace (TIP and SOM), the modus operandi of traffickers and the plights of victims. Nigerians were warned to beware of sites on the Internet that are involved in prostitution and trafficking of persons.

    There is a thin line between TIP and SOM, according to UNODC Smuggling of Migrants and Training Officer, Mrs Aminat Abdulrahman. While stating that TIP involves coercion, SOM is done with consent of the person involved, she, however, noted that both are exploitative. Aside external trafficking, she drew attention to internal sort, involving the trafficking of children as house-helps. She called on Nigerians to kick against the trend, saying it does lots of physical and psychologically damage to the victims.

    Mrs Abdulrahman said: “We should not only shout about external trafficking but also the internal one, which is very high in Nigeria. TIP and SOM often occur in tandem. However, both involve taking advantage of vulnerabilities of persons to obtain profit. While they are both risky and potentially life threatening, the impact for victims of TIP are usually more overriding and the harm more difficult and complex to reverse or remedy.”

    The biggest challenge in the fight against the TIP and SOM, the Project Manager, UNODC, Mmunbi Njau said, is the society – their attitude, perception and discrimination against victims. This, she observed, is where the media comes into play. In fact, the role of media in the fight cannot be over-emphasised.

    According to her, it is a major partner in its I am Priceless campaign that advocates against human trafficking and smuggling of migrants. She urged journalists to bring the “act of bestiality” to public consciousness, while holding governments and international bodies accountable.

    “The media has incredible power, use it for awareness, to influence opinion and create change,” she urged.

    NAPTIP Head Media and Communication, Mr Arinze Orakwue said the organisation has intensified measures of addressing the menace, saying anyone caught in the crime would not go unpunished. He, however, lamented that in spite of its efforts at creating awareness on the scam on illegal migration, Nigerians are constantly falling for it due to poverty, greed, civil unrest, among others.

    “Time has come for us to say no to trafficking…they are our children. NAPTIP is fully committed to the prevention of all forms of human degradation and exploitation through the co-ordinated use of the nation’s crime prevention and law enforcement resources. “